February 2014 - Adventure Nation Blog

Alps Mountain range is one of the most popular in the world. It attracts millions of tourists every year from all over the world. Here are some interesting facts about the Alps:

The formation of the Alps started some 300 million years ago. It was a process spread between various episodes from the Paleozoic Era to the Mesozoic Era to the Jurassic Period. From a single tectonic plate, the Pangaean supercontinent broke into many plates, thus forming the Tethys Sea between Laurasia and Gondwana. Mountain ranges called the Alpide belt were formed when the Tethys was squeezed between the colliding plates – a process that continues till now. This orogenic process led to the formation of the Alps, caused by the collision between the Eurasian and the African plates.

Aerial View of the Swiss Alps

Covering eight counties, the Alps are located in Middle-Southern Europe and cover a distance of 1,200 km. This crescent shaped mountain range is majorly divided into Western Alps and Eastern Alps. The division is along the line from Lake Constance through the Rhine to Lake Como. The Western Alps are located in Italy, France, Monaco and Switzerland, the Eastern Alps in Austria, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Alps have been extremely important from a historical point of view. Even before antiquity, countless numbers of armies crossed the Alps, including Caesar and other Roman leaders during the expansion of the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages, post the fall of the Roman Empire, barbarian hordes looking for a new settlement migrated through the Alps.

Famous Mount Jungfrau in the Swiss Alps

In 1991, a mummified man nick-named Otzi the Iceman was found at the Austrian/Italian border in the Alps. It is said to be 5,000 years old. In the Drachloch cave above the village of Vattis in the canton of St. Gallen, radiocarbon dated charcoal placed around 50,000 years ago was found. It proved that the high peaks in the Alps were visited by prehistoric people.

The 12th Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm 2014 got under way in Delhi over the weekend, setting the stage for Gaurav Gill and Suresh Rana to test their wits against each other, in a highly-anticipated Battle Royale in the sands of Rajasthan. Over the next eight days, the who’s who of Indian motorsport will be racing for top honours in India’s “mini-Dakar”.

Local man Rana will be aiming for a hat-trick of titles at the Desert Storm, and his sternest challenge will come from two APRC champions – Delhi’s Gill and Malaysia’s Karamjit Singh. The rally will traverse a gruelling 2,200 kilometres across the Thar Desert – through the harsh terrain of Sardarshahar, Bikaner and Jaisalmer – before ending in Jaipur.

The Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm has graduated from a single-category event in 2003 to one run in four categories – Xtreme, Moto, Ndure and Xplore. Competitors in the Rally Xtreme (4X4) and Rally Moto (motorcycles) categories are judged on the fastest times, while the Rally Ndure and Rally Xplore categories follow the time-speed-distance format.

“I have no fear of losing my life – if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it.” – Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin

Born on 22nd February, 1962 to nature lovers and animal naturalists, Lyn and Bob Irwin, Steve Irwin spent his entire life living and working for and with animals. While growing up on the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, his father taught him about reptiles, and also guided him on caring for animals, feeding them and getting to understand them better. So it wasn’t really a surprise when at the age of 9, Steve began handling crocodiles.

He soon became an expert on reptiles and associated himself with the Queensland government in the country’s Crocodile Relocation Program. Steve became established as one of the most successful participants in this government -sponsored program, safely catching and relocating dozens of crocs in the most humane (and non-tranquilizing) manner.

Experts state that around 50 million years ago, a head-on collision between two tectonic plates led to the formation of the Andes. These were the Nazca and the Antarctic plates that were undergoing subduction beneath the South American plate. This process has continued to this date and causes earthquakes and volcanic activity in the region.

Aerial View of the Andes

The Andes Mountains have been inhabited for centuries. One of the most recognizable civilizations from the past is the ancient Inca Empire. Inca engineers built massive and impressive sites, including Machu Picchu and the capital city of Cuzco. They also constructed roads and conduits throughout the mountain. Inca Empire, also known as Tawantinsuyu in the Quechua language, covered the entire length of the Andean range from Colombia to central Chile to northwestern Argentina.

The ancient city of Machu Picchu

The name “Andes” is believed to have come from the Quechua word “Anta”, meaning copper or “Anti”, which means “East Cardinal Point”.

The Andes Mountain range at 4,500 miles is the longest mountain range on the Earth. It is located around the entire western coast of South America and covers a surface of 800,000 square miles. It is divided into three sections – Southern (Argentina and Chile), Central (Chilean and Peruvian cordilleras and parts of Bolivia) and Northern (Venezuela, Colombia and Northern Ecuador).
Snow Mountain, Peru

Born on February 14th, 1898, Major Harold William “Bill” Tilman was an English explorer, mountaineer and one of the finest travel writers of the last century. He is known for his many climbing and sailing expeditions.

He was the true embodiment of the spirit of adventure. As he grew older, his zest for adventures became stronger. He has often been referred to as the conceiver of the stylish lightweight approach to mountaineering. It is said that Tilman was ahead of his time, he pioneered ecologically sound principles of adventure and exploration. He was one of those rare people who considered the journey itself as the adventure!

Even though he suffered from altitude sickness all his life, he either summited or attempted to summit the highest peaks known to man. He was a part of the two of the Mount Everest expeditions in the 30s. He participated in the Reconnaissance Expedition (to Everest) as the expedition leader, and reached 27,000 feet without oxygen. Along with his team that included Peter Lloyd, H. Adams Carter and Eric Shipton, he successfully made the ascent to Nanda Devi Sanctuary in 1936 and that remained to be the highest summit climbed by man until 1950. It was during this ascent that they discovered a new passage to this summit. More information about this can be found here .

Ogden lies only 40 miles north of Salt Lake City’s International airport and its two primary mountains – Snowbasin and Powder Mountain. Spread across the lower flanks of the popular Wasatch Range, Ogden has recently become a key Mountain hub for the outdoor industry. Head 30 minutes into the Wasatch for your choice of skiing styles on two sprawling mountains. Snowbasin underwent major renovation for the 2002 Winter Olympics and has elegant base lodges with state of the art lifts, including a tram and two gondolas. It boasts expert terrain rivaling anything in Utah. Powder Mountain is a throwback hill with simple lodges and non-high-speed chairlifts. Both areas are shockingly very less crowded.

Winter morning on Mount Ogden in the Wasatch Mountains

2. Reno, Nevada

Before its reinvention as an outdoorsy city filled with university students and skiers, Reno was a gambling mecca in the 20th century. Reno sits at the northern end of Lake Tahoe that has the thickest concentration of ski resorts in North America. Within 100 miles of Reno’s international airport, 18 resorts are located. At a 20-minute drive from the downtown there is Mount Rose. While it might not be the biggest ski area around, it is definitely economical and offers an excellent beginner program. In addition to that, it has the highest base elevation in the Tahoe region (8,260 ft.) that helps escape the rains that can spoil the area’s snow pack. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been put in to revamp the city and that has resulted in the sprouting of many cafes and galleries.

Adventure Nation is thrilled to share with you all that our Mountaineering GuruDebabrata Mukherjee along with his team, has recently been chosen to be awarded with the prestigious Himalayan Club Award for excellence in Mountaineering for the best Indian Himalayan Expedition – 2013. This is for opening a new route to the Himalayas during the historical exploration from Badrinath to Gangotri over Chaukhamba col.

Fish-eye lens view of sea ice off the coast of Spitsbergen (Svalbard Islands)

Midnight Sun – Most of the Arctic and the North Pole has almost six months of light each year, beginning around April. In the summer there is almost 24 hours of sunlight and it is exactly the opposite in the winter. The phenomenon is called Midnight Sun and occurs around the solstice (June 20-22). The number of days with a likely Midnight Sun increase the farther you go towards the pole. Similarly there are Polar nights in winters.
Watch this fascinating short time lapse film shot in the month of June to give you an idea about how days look like in the Arctic in peak summers.

Sun atop icebergs in Iceland

Freezing Cold – Arctic’s climate is marked by cold summers and even colder winters. Eight countries extend into the Arctic: Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Canada and the USA (Alaska). The coldest temperature recorded in the Arctic is around -68°C in Siberia. Norilsk, Russia (located in the Arctic) is the most northern city in the world with an average temperature of 20 degrees below 0.
Siberian Huskies

At the end of the 19th century, when many countries and avid explorers in Western Europe were resolute to head south to the Antarctic, the German South Polar Commission also suggested a national expedition to Antarctica. For his experience in the field of geophysics and geography at the University of Berlin, Drygalski was chosen to be a part of the expedition along with 31 others (22 crew members, 5 naval officers, 5 scientists).

This was the first German expedition to the Antarctic, led by Drygalski in the ship Gauss.

The entire team aboard GaussImage Credits: coolantarctica.com

The Gauss Expedition started from Kiel (Northern Germany) on August 11, 1901 and reached Kerguelen Islands in the Southern Indian Ocean on January 2, 1902. After some very difficult navigation through the Ocean, the crew first sighted land on February 21 1902. But as luck would have it, later that day their ship was trapped while trying to enter a gap between two ice ridges.

Amelia Earhart’s pioneering efforts in aviation brought her international respect and fame – and not just in her own lifetime.

On May 20, 1932, Earhart, 34, set off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland (Canada), in a Lockheed Vega 5B. Some 14 hours and 56 minutes later, and tested to the hilt by challenges both meteorological and mechanical, Earhart touched down in a meadow in Culmore, a hamlet just north of Londonderry town, in Northern Ireland, to become the first woman to fly solo – and non-stop – across the Atlantic Ocean (earlier, in 1928, she had become the first woman to cross the Atlantic as a passenger).

2. Making of an Aviator

Amelia Earhart was destined to stand out, to be different, after her mother determined not to bring her daughters up as “nice little girls”.

A 10-minute plane ride in Long Beach (California) convinced Earhart (aged 23 at the time) that flying would be her life’s calling. This persevering and plucky young lady saved $1000 by taking up odd jobs so that she could take flying lessons, and give wings to her dreams. Being a woman, Earhart had to battle extra (male) expectations and try that much harder to fulfill her hopes and realize her ambitions. Little, however, would faze this extraordinary woman in a life replete with achievement and adventure.

3. Appetite for Altitude

In 1922, aged 25, Amelia Earhart bought a resplendently yellow Kinner Airster – a two-seat single-engine biplane made in the USA – which she called “The Canary”.

A few months after buying “The Canary”, Earhart would take the plane to an altitude of 14,000 feet (4300m), creating a new mark for a female aviator. She would proceed to fly even higher in 1931, piloting a Pitcairn PCA-2 Autogiro to 18,415 feet (5613m). A couple of months before her 26th birthday, Earhart received her pilot’s license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (the 16th woman to be issued one) – she was on her way to adventure celebrityhood.